10-30-2025 Lech l’chah

Parashat Lech L’chah moves us from what Biblical  scholars call “pre-history” to actual “history.” Found  in Genesis 12:1-17:2, this week’s parashah is a long  section that deals not only with Abraham’s entrance  into the “Land of Israel,” but also provides us with  deep insights into Abraham’s character and  personality, and in so doing the parashah also  challenges us. 

The section begins with a beautiful Hebrew play-on words: “Lech-l’chah” can mean either “Go forth” or  “Go toward yourself/Go forward for your own sake.”  From a practical point of view, this is the reason that Abraham leaves the comfort of his parents’ home and  sets out for a new land and a new life. From a  psychological perspective we need to ask ourselves if  this command was G-d’s way of teaching Abraham that  to fulfil his potential he needed to leave his past behind  and move on with life? How many of us are stuck in  what we do and are afraid to move on with our lives?  It is never easy to be a pioneer. In Abraham’s case his  life was comfortable in Ur and difficult in this new  land. Abraham’s journey to the Land of Israel is not  only the beginning of Jewish history and peoplehood; it  is also Abraham’s personal journey into maturity.  

Lech L’chah is more than the story of one man. It is a  lesson of personal growth. In that sense, Abraham’s  journey is our journey. His journey teaches us that  having the courage to leave the familiar, the  comfortable, and face a future, is never easy or predictable. Lech L’chah teaches us that greatness  comes from the willingness to take calculated risks and  to understand that to risk nothing is to stagnate in life.  

We can read about Abraham’s journey from many  perspectives. Reading about Abraham’s journey from  a national level, his journey to Israel was a journey that  would give us our national territory. It is in the land of  Israel where we would create one of the world’s  greatest and oldest civilizations. On a spiritual level,  this story is universal and belongs to all of us. From  that perspective it is the story or leaving failures and  disappointments behind and having the faith to risk, to  build, and if need be, to start again. On a personal  level, Abraham’s journey is symbolic of each of  us. Reading Lech L’chah from that perspective the text  teaches us that life is filled with opportunities and  disappointments, and the mark of an adult is facing these disappointments and moving on with life.  Abraham understood that his friends and family could  assist him only to a certain point, but then he had to be  willing to trust G-d and himself, and to take  responsibility for his life if he were going to enter the  promised land of adult maturity rather than eternal  childhood.  

These untranslatable words, Lech L’chah, remind us  that faith is never passive but active. It is our job, just  as it was Abraham’s task, not to sit back, but to go  forward, not to call something G-d’s will but to  become G-d’s partner in transforming our dreams into  reality. Where are you in your personal journey? Do  the words “Lech L’chah” resonate in your life or are  you afraid to face the future?